Call for Submissions: Best Women’s Erotica 2015

The official call for Best Women’s Erotica 2015 submissions is now open.

I’m looking for the best erotic short stories written by women for the 2015 edition of the leading series for explicit women’s literature. The window for submissions get tighter each year, due to the level of competition and quality: I’m proud to say that the reviews for Best Women’s Erotica 2014 can tell you why it’s competitive, and wins earned praise from critics and fans alike.

Tell all your writer friends, and send me your hottest erotica.

It’s important to use the right email address to contact me, and read the guidelines. In this post (below) you’ll find all the information for submitting short story fiction for consideration in BWE 15 – please read and follow the guidelines, to make sure your work is considered and to make the process smooth for every level of consideration and production.

This is also an open call for recommendations of hot stories in books published during 2014. Tell me about a super arousing short you’ve read (or written and have permission to allow a reprint) in a collection within the past year! I will consider it for the book, which is an unusual break from tradition; I really want the best of the best for this one.

Please note: Publisher has final right of refusal on all submissions. Payment is upon publication, plus 2 copies of the book; publication date is December 2014. No email inquiries, please.

Best Women’s Erotica is a legendary and groundbreaking yearly series, and it is the best-selling women’s erotica collection. Every year BWE raises the bar for explicit erotica written by and for women, authored by the most exciting female authors, from around the world.

This edition (BWE 2015) is selected and edited by Violet Blue (tinynibbles.com, about.me/violetblue, @violetblue). Cleis Press holds right of final refusal on all selections. In this edition we are looking for fictional stories that seek to push the boundaries of female sexuality, present realistic fantasies and situations, and break taboos. The sex acts depicted must be explicit and must be realistic in detail.

A strong focus on character, predicament, and compelling situations is desired – smart, literate erotic fiction. The desired orientation within the main sexual element of the stories is primarily heterosexual, yet bisexuality and lesbian encounters are welcome and encouraged. The primary focus of sexual activity must be on the female experience; female pleasure is the main element. A playful, clever approach is welcome, as are intense scenarios.

The BWE editions 2006 – 2014 edited by Violet Blue regularly win awards, and are very different from other women’s erotica books: please read a few stories from any of those years of Best Women’s Erotica or the introductions for examples of tone. The easiest way to do this is to read free chapters from Best Women’s Erotica on Amazon.com.

What not to send: Dark themes (such as breakup, jealousy, infidelity and death) must be exceptional in content for acceptance and are *least* desired. Do not send sci-fi, poetry, slash or fantasy fiction.

Paste your story submissions into emails and send to: cleisbook at gmail.com

Rules: Only send submissions pasted into the body of your email: the limit is three stories. No email attachments, no links within emails to stories, no paper submissions. Again: only three submissions per author. Word count: 2500 to 4500 words is the desired range. No simultaneous submissions (you will be disqualified with no hesitation if you submit your story to multiple publications). Reprints that you have rights to use and excerpts from already-published, full-length books will be considered.

Required: You must include your name (and pseudonym if you are using one), a short 150-word bio, mailing address and main contact email address with your submission. Include a payment choice: Payments are made by check or PayPal only; state your preference when you send me your stories.

Authors must be female; sorry, no male authors writing under pseudonyms allowed (female transgender authors are warmly welcome here). Please don’t hassle me about not allowing male authors: this is the format of the “Best Women’s” series, and the series belongs to Cleis Press.

Because of the volume of submissions every year (literally hundreds!) I probably won’t be able to respond to your submissions until August.

Please only use the cleisbook at gmail.com address for correspondence about this book. Emailing me at a different address, Tweeting or Facebook messages will get lost.

A personal note: BWE authors become part of my network of colleagues, and I invariably involve authors in extra publicity about the book and other book projects. Do understand that I get a lot of stories, and I do read each and every one. If you email and demand a confirmation email, I’m sorry but you just won’t get one. I appreciate your patience in advance!

The London Times named Violet Blue "One of the 40 bloggers who really count" and Self Magazine named TinyNibbles one of the “Best Sex Resources for Women.” Blue is an autodidact and pundit on sex and technology, hacking and security, porn for women, privacy and bleeding-edge tech culture. She is a journalist for ZDNet, CBS News, CNET; she's an educator, speaker, crisis counselor, volunteer NGO trainer, and the author and editor of over 40 award-winning books.

Funny thing I’ve noticed… The phrase “erotica for women” has become somewhat of a redundancy. Almost nobody uses the phrase “erotica” for prose unless the intended audience is women. If it’s for men, they just go ahead and call it porn.